Mills Lake is one of many lakes you can hike to in Rocky Mountain National Park and it’s absolutely stunning. You start the hike at the Glacial Gorge Lot which is small and fills up very quickly, so you may need to park at the Bear Lake Lot and follow the path down (don’t walk on the road.) From there you follow the trail to Alberta Falls before continuing on to Mills Lake.
The trail is well marked and it’s easy to follow and keep up with the signs so you don’t get lost. This hike isn’t too steep, but we did it in May after a late-season snowfall so we definitely needed the microspikes to keep from slipping.
Rocky Mountain National Park will start reservations for the season on May 28th or you have to enter the park before 6am. One other way around that is to go with a guide from the YMCA of the Rockies, we went with a guide named Pat and had the best experience – I can’t recomend it enough! Also, if you stay at the YMCA the guided hikes are free – win, win!
